The Flies

Did You Know?

• Zeus is introduced in the exposition as 'god of flies and death', though traditionally associated with sky, lightning, thunder, law, order, and justice.
• Zeus introduces himself as Demetrios, meaning 'devoted to Demeter', a goddess who was Zeus' own sister.

Synopsis

Orestes first arrives in Argos as a traveler with his tutor, not seeking involvement, having journeyed to find himself. He appears as an adolescent with a girlish face, uncertain of his path, and introduces himself as Philebus to hide his identity. Zeus, who has followed Orestes, approaches him in Argos as Demetrios. Orestes arrives on the eve of the day of the dead, a mourning commemoration of Agamemnon's killing fifteen years prior. No townspeople except an aphasic idiot boy speak to Orestes or his tutor because they are strangers not dressed in black or showing remorse. Orestes meets his sister Electra, who has been treated as a servant since the murder and longs for revenge, refusing to mourn. At the ceremony of the dead, Aegisthus releases angry souls for one day to torment the living; townspeople must welcome them into their homes. Electra arrives late, dances on a cave in a white gown, and denounces the expectation to mourn. The townspeople begin to consider freedom until Zeus sends a contrary sign. Orestes and Electra resolve to kill Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. Zeus warns Aegisthus, revealing two secrets: people are free, and once they realize it, the gods cannot touch them. Aegisthus refuses to fight back, and Orestes kills him, then goes alone to Clytemnestra's bed chamber and kills her as well.

Background

In 1941, Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir attended performances of The Suppliant Maidens, in which Olga Kosakiewicz had a part. During rehearsals, the producer-director Jean-Louis Barrault told the actresses that the best way to get a first-rate part was to have someone write a play for them, and Sartre thought he could be that person. He had previously written and produced a play called Bariona in a Stalag, which used the birth of Christ as a theme but functioned as Resistance propaganda. Sartre believed the real function of theater was to appeal to those sharing a common predicament with the playwright, and he sought a plot that would be technically unobjectionable yet transparent in its implications. Years later, Sartre stated that the drama he would have liked to write was that of a terrorist who ambushes Germans and becomes the instrument for executing fifty hostages. Biographer Annie Cohen-Solal views this as an allusion to events in occupied Paris in 1941, when a German officer was killed at the Métro Barbès and German forces executed prisoners in retaliation. German censors would have banned such a play, so Sartre used the story of the Atridae as a vehicle. De Beauvoir noted that the first act was inspired by the village of Emborio on Santorin, and she informed Sartre about Etruscan funeral ceremonies, which inspired the second act.

Sartre's philosophy

The play explores existentialist themes of freedom and responsibility through Orestes' transformation from the peace-loving Philebus into a warrior. A person may not be prepared for crises by past experiences, but it is bad faith to declare oneself not meant for such circumstances. Orestes resists bad faith and achieves authenticity by rising to his situation. Sartre's idea of freedom requires that the being-for-itself be neither a being-for-others nor a being-in-itself. A being-for-others occurs when people accept morals thrust on them by others; a being-in-itself occurs when people do not separate themselves from objects of nature. Zeus represents both a moral norm (the Good) and Nature. Freedom is the ability to mentally interpret one's own life and create one's own values, not the ability to physically do whatever one wants. Even a slave can interpret life differently and is thus free. The Flies also shows Nietzsche's influence: Orestes represents the overman, freeing his mind from dogma and thinking on a higher level. Like Zarathustra, Orestes feels he must go down to the people and open their eyes, though out of compassion. Orestes talks about being beyond the moral yoke others allow, an idea from Beyond Good and Evil. He is not bound by the false dichotomy of good and evil, and accepts what has been done, focusing on the present and future. The play continues a twentieth-century tradition of incestuous flirtation between Electra and Orestes, possibly inspired by Andre Gide's Œdipe and motivated by antipathy to Freud's repression theory.

Compared to the Oresteia

The Flies is a modern take on Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy, adjusting the story to fit Sartre's views on freedom from psychological slavery. Sartre focuses most on the second play of the trilogy, The Libation Bearers, only referencing the first play, Agamemnon, through mention of Agamemnon's death. The plot of the third play, The Eumenides, is excluded because in it the Council of Elders absolves Orestes of his sins, but Sartre's Orestes is remorseless. Unlike in The Libation Bearers, where revenge is a main theme, Sartre's Orestes kills Aegisthus and Clytemnestra not for vengeance or destiny but to free the people of Argos from enslavement. Sartre stresses that Orestes comes to this decision by himself, without direction from outside forces, contrasting with Aeschylus' Orestes who relies on the gods. Sartre diminishes the character of Clytemnestra, placing less emphasis on matricide. While Electra is guilt-stricken after Clytemnestra's death, Orestes feels no remorse. Sartre's Furies differ from Aeschylus' in that they try to evoke guilt rather than avenge crimes, reiterating that remorse should only be felt if one believes the act is wrong. Orestes takes responsibility for his actions without remorse.